THIS ELECTRIC ITALIAN RISTORANTE HELPED SPARK RED BANK’S CULINARY RENAISSANCE WHEN IT DEBUTED IN THE LATE ‘90S, AND TODAY IT CONTINUES TO SERVE WITH SOUL

BY KT HARRISON PHOTOS BY ALEX BARRETO

Just who, exactly, steps into a dusty, circa-1914 warehouse in a quiet town and envisions an exuberant Italian restaurant? It takes a big-picture optimist and entrepreneur like chef Chris Mariani. He named the ristorante Buona Sera a warm Italian greeting that means good evening. “This name is also a promise that my guests will have a good evening here,” he said.

Promise kept. Since opening in 1998 in the red brick warehouse’s vastly expanded space, Buona Sera crackles with excitement. Its 650 seats indoors, outdoors, wine cellar, private dining rooms are often filled. Mariani’s passion project has evolved into Red Bank’s go-to place for savoring everything buona: warmth, community, fine wine, and a vast, value-driven rustica Italian menu.

“The dining rooms are a love-fest and the kitchen is laser-focused on perfection,” said Mariani. His food is authentic Italian from all over the Boot, from Tuscany, Piedmont, and Veneto to Rome and Southern Italy. “Simple, old school, fresh herbs, olive oil we perfect it with the most premium ingredients you can get,” he said. “And here’s a secret. We cook every dish, not just steak, exactly to order. Garlic, no garlic. Chunky sauce, smooth sauce, more sauce. A different vegetable. Maybe you want a half portion. Then we cook your food the way you want: al dente, medium rare, you tell us. I’m your private chef, and this is your custom kitchen.”

Mariani, an instinctive cook, eschewed culinary school in favor of learning from customers. “Practically our entire menu was finessed by diners,” he said. Nowhere else will Italian devotees find diner-driven Buona Sera favorites like swordfish puttanesca with a zesty Roman red sauce, or Florentine-style pork chops and steak grilled with fresh herbs, or a Kobe beef meatball finished with a luscious burrata center, or pizza with a perfectly crisped crust of stone-ground, ancient-grain Sardinian flour.

Mariani is not only Buona Sera’s kitchen boss, overseeing a loyal longtime crew, he’s also his restaurant’s ultimate host. In his signature black vest and colorful glasses, he seems everywhere at once, greeting, joking, and laughing with diners. “I was born to do this,” he said.

When asked where he grew up, Mariani quipped, “In my family’s pork stores in Fort Lee and Chadwick Beach. The shop was my playground. I got very into cooking with our amazing food, but I loved being out front, getting to know our customers, chatting with them, making their world a part of ours. I knew I belonged in hospitality: the business of making people happy.”

Mariani earned a marketing degree from Seton Hall “for a practical foundation,” he said, adding, “I was a suit for a minute, then I took the plunge.” In 1983, the 22-year-old Mariani opened Ebby’s in Ocean County’s Seaside Park. At first, it was a simple pizzeria, but within a few years it grew to encompass a sandwich shop, bakery, bar, and caterer. Then, in 1997, the grand vintage warehouse grabbed him.

“My 100% Jersey Boy instincts told me that Red Bank was ripe for a comeback,” he said. “It was just too historic and well-situated not to rise again.” Eclectic boutiques and quaint cafés had cropped up downtown, and the warehouse was across the street from the celebrated Count Basie Theatre, which brought people into town.

“I couldn’t have wished for a more perfect chef owned space,” said Mariani. He tripled its square footage to 12,000, adding Tuscan-style stone details to the brick warehouse’s industrial-chic bones. He created an open kitchen, a butchery and dry-aging meat locker, quintessentially Italian private dining rooms, and a dazzling below-ground wine cellar. With room for tens of thousands of global bottles for all tastes and budgets, and seats for 32 fortunate diners, it is one of the country’s most-awarded wine cellars.

“Buona Sera’s array of dining experiences put my obsessions with hospitality and genuine Italian food to work,” said Mariani. “I could create a true ‘buona sera’ for everyone and keep the tabs moderate. I’m in this for the joy of dining out.”

His enticing four-page menu presents seemingly endless variations on the Italian regional classics. Starting with a salad? There are seven. Pasta? Dozens. Chicken or veal? They’re prepared a myriad of ways, including Parm, of course. There’s sparkling fresh seafood from both the Mediterranean and Jersey Shore. Spectacular, house-aged steaks, masterfully grilled to order, comprise velvety filet mignon, a silken American Wagyu strip, a brawny porterhouse or tomahawk for two, and more. But which of the 15 sides and five sauces will you choose? And, sir or madam, would you like a meatball or sausage on the plate too?

Perhaps the sole downside to a meal at Buona Sera is forcing yourself to choose from all the temptations. That’s why Mariani offers prix-fixe family-style menus featuring his most-ordered “greatest hits,” with a moderate bump-up for unlimited wine and beer. “Whatever my customers ask for, they get,” Mariani added.

Even with the steadfast customer loyalty Buona Sera has earned over the decades, “I can never rest on my laurels,” Mariani pledged. “An Italian chef is only as good as their last pomodoro sauce. I walk into the kitchen every day asking myself how I can take the food, the warmth, and the diner’s pleasure even higher.”

J&H Dinettes & Upholstery, InC

732-431-3555 21 South Street | Freehold, NJ 07728 www.jhdinettes.com | jhdinette@aol.com JHDinettes

Buona Sera 50 Maple Avenue, Red Bank 732.530.5858 / buona-sera.com